There Are Still No Words
by Joywriter
Summary: A oneshot about Harry and Severus Snape meeting in the afterlife.


Harry has lived a long and rich life, but even the best-lived lives come to an end. For the purposes of this story, Harry's son, Albus Severus Potter, died many years earlier. (Cruel, I know)

A one shot about Harry and Severus Snape meeting in the afterlife.

(NOTE: This is NOT a Snarry fic, despite some of the things that happen. I believe in the total absolution of sin and complete forgiveness and harmony in the afterlife among all people.)

**Warning: Highly maudlin and sappy**. If you want the usual snarky bastard that is Severus Snape, you won't find him here. I admit this is an odd piece, but no flames, please!

**There Are Still No Words**

There was only silence. Complete and beautiful quiet unlike anything he had ever known before. Slowly, the black darkness began to glow with and orange-red light that bled through his eyelids. He took in a deep breath, amazed at how easy and liberating it was. He moved his fingers and was delighted to find that they didn't hurt anymore.

Very slowly, he allowed his eyes to open against the bright light. He gazed up into the infinite glow of yellow, allowing his eyes and senses to be filled by it. He sat up and gazed down at his hands. They were no longer heavily veined and wrinkled by age. The scars that he had accumulated over the course of his 86 years were conspicuous only by their absence. He gazed down at his body and found that he was no longer an old man, but a lithe and young He immediately looked around and saw a metal basin a few feet from him. He gazed into it, realizing that he looked no older than he had at age 30 and for the first time in living memory, he could see without his glasses. He scanned his hairline for the mark that had defined him for so long.

It wasn't there.

He smiled and wondered why he was naked. As soon as the thought had crossed his mind, he found himself in a burgundy robe that felt like satin and velvet.

Harry gazed around, wondering what exactly he was supposed to do. There was nothing but thick white mist as far as the eye could see. He turned around when he heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps.

He wasn't sure who he had been expecting. His father was the first one who came to mind. Maybe his mother, or Sirius or Lupin. Or perhaps even Dumbledore or his son. But no, the ones he expected to see were not there.

A thin man dressed in a long black robe emerged from the opaque mist, looking remarkably similar to how Harry remembered him, though somehow younger and… whole. There were no lines to mar his features, and Harry took particular notice that he looked… happy.

'Hello, Mr. Potter,' said Snape in an uncommonly gentle voice.

'Hello, sir,' replied Harry, surprised by Snape's welcoming demeanour.

The two men stared at each other for a long moment. Harry gazed into his deep dark eyes, having never been given the chance to speak to Snape about the things he had allowed Harry to see after he had died. The pain and loss and regret that was his entire existence. The fact that Snape had spent a good portion of his life protecting him – the son of an enemy and the only person he had ever loved.

Harry had spent many nights thinking about what Snape's memories had revealed to him, and he deeply sympathized with him. Harry had lived every day since then feeling deeply ashamed of how he had misjudged him. He stood there before Snape now, feeling like a child again, and Snape's black form began to blur as Harry's eyes began to fill with tears. Harry tore his eyes from Snape, letting his gaze fall to the ground.

The next thing he knew, Snape was standing only a breath's distance from him. With his long and thin fingers, Snape tilted Harry's chin up and their gazes met. Tracing a gentle finger down his cheek, Snape wiped away Harry's tears.

'Don't cry,' Snape said ethereally. Harry was amazed how the rich silky tones that once inspired hate and fear could be so soothing, so reassuring. He was unable to control his emotions and he fell into Snape's arms, giving himself over completely to his tears.

The two men held each other. Snape ran his hand through Harry's hair, saying sweet and soothing things in attempt to calm him. Snape smiled inwardly, remembering how easily Harry could be provoked into emotion. Snape had been guilty on several counts of that.

After many long and surprisingly comforting moments, Harry drew himself up and tried to salvage what was left of his dignity.

'I'm so sorry,' Harry said. Even though he didn't specify what he was sorry for, they both knew what was implied.

'I know. And I am too.'

Harry looked at Snape as though he had never seen him properly before that moment. Those eyes had always been so cold, so distant, as though they had contained a black ocean of suffering, but now, there was light in them, and Harry smiled.

'I always thought about what I would have said to you…' Harry's voice trailed off. 'There was so much I wanted to say, but now I can't think of anything.'

Snape nodded understandingly, his eyes afire with a smile. 'Sometimes there are no words.'

Harry wiped his eyes. 'You seem different,' he remarked.

'I am,' he said, a smile playing with the corners of his mouth.

Harry nodded and looked around. 'Where is everyone?'

'Oh, here and there,' he said vaguely. 'They're all waiting for you.'

'Why didn't they come?' Harry asked. 'Why did you come for me?'

'My reasons are my own,' he replied. 'I will take you to them.'

Snape turned to leave, but Harry seemed rooted to the spot.

'Sir?'

Snape turned back to Harry. 'It's Severus.'

'Severus?'

'Yes?'

Harry inhaled deeply, another swell of emotion threatening to crash into him. 'Thankyou. For everything you did. You're… well…' Harry faltered, admittedly embarrassed by what he was about to say. 'In a way, you're my hero.'

At this, Harry could have sworn that Snape's eyes became glassy with tears, but he hid it well. Instead, he smiled and together they set off through the mist.

Though they didn't speak as they walked, Harry felt that something wonderful and unbreakable had been shared between the two of them. He had never known Snape as a friend or even a man, only as his enemy, his tormentor, and a traitor, and it felt good to be here with him now after having spent so many years living with the truth about Snape and how his very existence had made Snape's life a living hell.

Before he knew it, they emerged from the mist and walked into a brilliant summer day beside a gentle stream. Near the river sat the figures of James, Lily, Al, Dumbledore, Remus, Tonks, and Sirius. Lily spotted Harry first and set off in a sprint toward him.

'Harry!' she cried as she ran to her only son.

They met in a fierce embrace that he never had in life. A mother's love, something he had been cruelly denied, and the one thing that had saved him over and over again. She felt so good in his arms. 'Mum,' he whispered, overwhelmed at having never spoken to her before. They pulled away, and he wasn't surprised to see his own eyes staring back at him. She was so beautiful, so perfect.

'My little boy grew up to be so handsome! Just like his father,' she said, studying Harry's face and tracing her fingers along his features. Snape was standing a bit off to the right and rolled his eyes playfully.

'Sev doesn't agree, I guess,' Lily commented.

'He may look like James, but he always had your best feature,' Snape said adoringly. 'And he has your soul. I was just too blind to realize it.'

Harry was rather surprised to see Lily pull Snape into a kiss. Harry looked around to see if his father had noticed. Everyone else was on their way over to meet them, and James had indeed witnessed the kiss.

James smiled at Harry, having understood his son's reaction, and said, 'Don't worry, they pull that stuff all the time.'

Harry was momentarily taken aback at just how much he did look like James. He smiled and hugged his father. 'Good to see you, son.' He then hugged Remus, Tonks, Sirius, and shook hands with Dumbledore. At last, he came to his son. And he began to cry again.

'Hey Al.'

'Hey Dad.'

Harry hugged his middle child, who had died some forty years earlier. 'I've missed you so much.'

'I've missed you too, but Grammy and Grampy Potter have been really good to me, and so has Mr. Snape and everyone else.'

'_Mr_. Snape?' Harry asked incredulously. 'That's what you call him?'

'Well, I really look up to him and I want to respect him,' Al explained. 'He is, after all, the reason my middle name is "Severus"'.

Harry smiled. 'Does he know that?'

'Yes, I told him.'

Together, they all walked back to the river. They weren't alone. There were many other people gathered around, taking animatedly and laughing. 'Who are they?' Harry asked his father.

'Relatives and friends. You see, everyone is free to roam and meet whomever they please, but we spend the afterlife with those we loved in life.'

'So that's why Snape's here,' Harry said. 'He loved Mum.'

James nodded. 'Yes, and she loved him too, to some degree. They were best friends for a while.'

'Yeah, I know.'

Harry settled down on the grass beside James. He scanned the field and saw that Lily and Snape were still lingering behind, laughing and holding hands.

'That doesn't bother you?' Harry asked.

'No, it doesn't,' James said, smiling at his wife as he watched her walking with Snape. 'There is no hate here, no grudges, no pain, no regret. Only love. And we have all eternity to share that love with each other.'

Harry nodded, and felt immensely relieved to know that while he had been alive and feeling sorry for Snape he had been here loving Lily the way he had wanted to in life.

'Al said that he really respects him,' said Harry.

'Yeah, they spend a lot of time talking,' James remarked.

'Doesn't he have any family?'

'He was an only child,' James explained, 'and from what Lily has told me, his parents never wanted him, so they're off somewhere else. The only person he's ever had is Lily.'

Harry nodded, having come to that conclusion a long time ago.

'Do they spend a lot of time together?' Harry asked as he watched them. He found it so weird to see Snape so happy, and even more strange to see him together with his mother.

'I sometimes think that maybe they should have been together. I mean, look at them. You should have seen her when she knew Snape was coming.'

'How did she know?'

'The person who has the strongest bond with the person who died is the one sent to get them and bring them home. Lily 'felt' Snape was waiting and went to get him. She was beside herself with joy that day.'

While Harry had taken in every word his father said, it also brought him to another conclusion. 'So, it was Snape that felt I was waiting?'

'Apparently so.'

'Why not you? Or Mum? Or Al?'

'Who knows for certain… but you and Severus seem to have some kind of bond. You must agree, after all, you made your son his namesake.'

Harry smiled as he watched Snape holding his mother as though she was the only treasure in all of heaven and earth. Snape caught Harry's gaze, and they both smiled to each other.

--

Some time later, Lily and James were away and Harry had been talking with Sirius and Remus when he saw Snape walk by and take a seat by the river.

Harry excused himself and approached the man.

'Sir?' he said tentatively.

'Severus,' Snape said.

'Sorry, it just feels strange to address you so informally.'

'Don't let it worry you.'

'I want to speak with you,' Harry said.

Snape inclined his head to the ground beside him, and Harry sat down.

'I just wanted to say that I'm glad to see you with her,' Harry began. 'I never imagined you could be so happy. And I certainly never expected to spend eternity with you as part of my family.'

Snape chuckled. 'Well, hopefully I will prove a better companion in death than I did in life.'

'You already have.'

Snape eyed Harry curiously. 'My dad told me that only the person most connected to the deceased can bring them into the afterlife, and you came for me. That must say something about you and me.'

A light breeze wafted in from the sparklingly river. 'Yes, I guess it does,' Snape said pensively.

'How did you feel when Al told you he was named for you?'

'Well, it was then that I knew I had done the right thing. I died believing I had failed Lily. I died believing I had failed you and was sending you off to meet your death. But really the only thing that died in me was the darkness. And I knew that you had gone on and lived just as I always secretly hoped you would. But when Al told me I was deeply moved. There are no words to describe how it felt to know you had come to forgive me and see me for who I really was but could never show you.'

There was a moment of silence before Snape said, 'I guess I should thank you.'

Harry smiled. 'Who went and got Al when he died?'

Snape looked up at him and smiled gently. 'I did.'

A peaceful silence fell between the two men. Harry absently ran his palm over the sweet green grass.

'I can see myself spending a lot of time with you. When Mum's with Dad, of course,' he added as an afterthought. 'I won't take that from you.'

Snape smiled. 'I think I'd like that.'

They sat together and watched the sun set in the distance. After many long moments of silence, Harry spoke.

'What's it like?'

'What's what like?' Snape asked.

'To be able to be with her everyday and know that she loves you?'

Snape closed his eyes and sighed deeply, a gesture that both suggested strong emotion and pure contentment. 'I've been dead for 68 years, and there are still no words.'


End file.
